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I was at work the other day......
Came in & found the lights on & I knew someone had been in my place.
Walked through, found a maintenance note in the bathroom.
(Someone supposedly fixed the shower head)
I never ordered maintenance, so I called the office.
Asked why someone was in there , to which the response was, "Idk"
So I asked why wasn't I informed someone would be in this unit fixing something-
the guy again says "Idk".
To which I respond- bullsh*t.
Anyways the situation is I went down there,
showed the office people the notice- & he tells me that they can come in whenever they want,
without my prior consent or permission to do whatever they want.
According to him it's in the lease.
I of course tell him what I think of that insane policy & also was tempted to call the cops.
A friend of mine (an engineer) says this happened to him years ago & it is not legal.
Btw the other person in the office read the maintenance order &
the maintenance guy wasn't even in the correct apartment.
But the question I have is-
Is it legal for them to go into tenants apartments for non emergencies??
And is what the **** in the office saying true?
Yes, they are required to give at least a 24 hour notice that they will be entering. It is not legal to just come in with no notice and if the lease you signed says otherwise, I don't believe it's enforceable. Your lease doesn't trump state law.
Now that I'm off work tonight, I'll be looking into this along with a glass or 3 of wine.
Thats after I go look at other apartments.
Ugh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by azurabug
Yes, they are required to give at least a 24 hour notice that they will be entering. It is not legal to just come in with no notice and if the lease you signed says otherwise, I don't believe it's enforceable. Your lease doesn't trump state law.
This is exactly what my friend told me this morning.
He said I can get out of this lease now-
because I'm not staying in a place that they do this.
The question of landlord entry was discussed just today on another thread and - not knowing what state you're in - you'll find that in some of the states on the link you've been given, there is no statute addressing it. This does NOT mean that the landlord or his designates have free rein. If your state is listed as "no statute", dig a little deeper and you'll find case law which sets the precedent for right of landlord entry. Usually 24 hours notice has to be given unless in case of emergency.
Whether this one incident gives you carte blanche to break your lease without penalty is a whole 'nother matter ...
I was at work the other day......
Came in & found the lights on & I knew someone had been in my place.
Walked through, found a maintenance note in the bathroom.
(Someone supposedly fixed the shower head)
I never ordered maintenance, so I called the office.
Asked why someone was in there , to which the response was, "Idk"
So I asked why wasn't I informed someone would be in this unit fixing something-
the guy again says "Idk".
To which I respond- bullsh*t.
Anyways the situation is I went down there,
showed the office people the notice- & he tells me that they can come in whenever they want,
without my prior consent or permission to do whatever they want.
According to him it's in the lease.
I of course tell him what I think of that insane policy & also was tempted to call the cops.
A friend of mine (an engineer) says this happened to him years ago & it is not legal.
Btw the other person in the office read the maintenance order &
the maintenance guy wasn't even in the correct apartment.
But the question I have is-
Is it legal for them to go into tenants apartments for non emergencies??
And is what the **** in the office saying true?
Reading the whole thing, it sounds like there was a request for repair of a shower head by a tenant in another apartment and the maintenance man went into the wrong apartment by mistake. Which would mean that it's entirely possible that notice was given by management to the tenant requesting the shower head repair that the repair would be done and when, but the maintenance guy got the wrong apartment number.
Reading the whole thing, it sounds like there was a request for repair of a shower head by a tenant in another apartment and the maintenance man went into the wrong apartment by mistake. Which would mean that it's entirely possible that notice was given by management to the tenant requesting the shower head repair that the repair would be done and when, but the maintenance guy got the wrong apartment number.
I think you're right but they really should have just admitted it and apologized. I worked at place once that had apartments connected to it. We had a resident there that was given free rent for awhile because the maintenance men went to do a work order for an empty unit, went into the wrong apartment, and walked in on the tenant (a woman) butt-naked. Needless to say, she sued and got free rent for a long time.
Not that I think OPs situation is a severe as the one I mentioned above. Just an example of something similar.
Reading the whole thing, it sounds like there was a request for repair of a shower head by a tenant in another apartment and the maintenance man went into the wrong apartment by mistake. Which would mean that it's entirely possible that notice was given by management to the tenant requesting the shower head repair that the repair would be done and when, but the maintenance guy got the wrong apartment number.
I'd the farm that this is exactly what happened. It's not uncommon for the office staff to have no idea what's going on with the maintenance staff. We put all work orders in online and it goes directly to the maintenance office, not the leasing office.
No, I don't see it as a simple mistake.
The pr*ck in the office smugly told me that they have the right to come
in here anytime they want to without my prior knowledge, consent or any notice.
He said "you don't own the property- we do"
Now I can see if it was an emergency.
This was not.
I just got off the phone w/ a realtor who specializes in rentals;
she told me that while I pay here, it is technically viewed as my place.
Not that I care anymore...
I will be breaking this lease.
While I agree that the entry was unnecessary, your comment "I just got off the phone w/ a realtor who specializes in rentals;
she told me that while I pay here, it is technically viewed as my place." is a little off base. No matter what you pay, the property belongs to the owner. That does not give them the right to violate LL/tenant law. With proper notice they can enter for whatever reason they state - inspections, repairs, show to an appraiser or buyer, etc.
An apology from the management would have been nice but I don't think this gives you carte blanche to break the lease.
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